


Sugared Coffee

by fumomoshi



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Baristas, Café, Coffee Shops, Fluff, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-15 12:11:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14790300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fumomoshi/pseuds/fumomoshi
Summary: Cafe AU fluffy fluff fluff, so just enjoy!





	Sugared Coffee

Sui looks at the blank page in front of him, tapping his pen impatiently, his head resting on his other hand. His gaze drifts to the window beside him, staring distantly at the quiet morning alleyway.“

Go get some fresh air, Sui!” his mother said and chased him out of his house. Sui reluctantly complied and wandered into the cafe near his house. It didn't make a difference; he will be writing the next chapter to his romance novel anyway, although Sui felt that the change of environment might do something about the Writer’s Block he’s experiencing.

Sui gives a sigh. He doesn’t have any idea what the next chapter is going to be. He continues to stare blankly outside the window. A couple walks by, holding hands, giggling at each other’s words. He lets go a breath which might as well be another sigh. _How do I even write a romance novel when I have never experienced it myself?_ He hunches down in defeat.

“Black coffee with sugar, sir!” chimes a voice. Sui blinks and turns, returning to reality. He recognizes the owner of the voice as the new cheery barista of the cafe, having slightly long flowy hair for a guy, part of it tied up as a short cute ponytail at the back. His frame is smaller than Sui’s but probably has a better build overall. Sui notes that he is kind of good looking, and probably would make a good side character in his novel. _I guess baristas have to look at least somewhat pleasing_.

“Thanks,” Sui says, nodding at the mug of coffee being placed onto his table. He returns his attention to the blank page, and starts tapping his pen again.

“What are you writing?” The barista asks. Sui frowns. He is not exactly in a chatty mood. Not really. He looks behind the barista and notices that the cafe is completely devoid of customers. _I guess I can talk for a bit._ Sui takes a swig of the coffee, taking comfort in the familiar taste.

“Nothing,” he replies, gesturing at the blank page. He knows that it is a terrible way to continue the conversation, but he wants to share some part of his frustration. “As you can see, the page is blank.” He laughs internally at his cynicism. How clever.

“But you are going to write something, right?” the barista says, smiling. “What are you going to write?”

“A novel,” Sui replies with just a couple of words. He looks at the hopeful smile that the barista is giving. It is a smile different from the ones that is worn by the people in the service line. It seems like a genuine smile. An authentic smile of curiosity. Sui suddenly feels bad for his nonchalant answer and decides to elaborate. “A romance novel.”

“Wow! That’s amazing!” exclaims the barista, his eyes lighting up. Sui isn’t sure what he meant by ‘amazing’. He doesn’t think writing words on a piece of paper would be an amazing feat. It is just something he does to pass time.

“I’d love to read it!” he added. Sui pauses to take another swig of the coffee. He does not fully understand the statement. Rather, he does not understand the _intention_ of the statement. _It’s probably just a standard way to prolong the conversation_. Still, he does not see any harm in letting him read his first work which he had painstakingly convinced himself to post online.

“Actually, I have one online, if you want to read it,” Sui says as he searches for the link. Letter by letter, he copies it down onto a used page and tears it out of his notebook, handing it over to the barista. “Here, if you follow this link, you’ll see it.”

“Erm,” the barista gives a troubled look at the piece of paper. “Wouldn’t it be easier if you sent it to me over through my phone?”

“Oh.” Sui says, feeling a little stupid as he swipes his phone in search of an appropriate application. “How do you want it sent? Email?”

The barista gives an incredulous look, followed by a chuckle. “Ahaha! No no, not email please,” he says as he takes out his phone and flashes it at Sui. “Do you have this?” he asks. Sui squints at the application on the barista's phone. It isn’t an unfamiliar app to Sui. In fact, he uses it to contact his family members every now and then to update them his whereabouts.

“Yes,” Sui replies, tapping on the application on his phone.

“Okay, add me,” the barista says, gesturing at the ID code on his phone. Sui slowly inputs the code and presses on the big green ‘Add Friend’ button. The application springs to life and after loading for a few moments, it reveals an unfamiliar - yet unmistakable, thanks to the photo that was set as the display picture - profile of the barita.

 _Karu...sawa? Souta._ Sui silently repeats the name on the profile, surprised at how easily it rolls off his tongue. _Karusawa Souta,_ he repeats again, glancing and comparing the name with the undecipherable handwriting on the barista's name tag on his chest. _Close enough, I guess._

The barista hums eagerly at his phone, no doubt checking out Sui’s profile. He is taking some time to check it out though. Sui isn’t sure why. His profile is minimal; only his name was set, no display picture. There shouldn’t be anything interesting to see.

“Tachi...hana...Tachibana-san!” chimes the barista, a grin forming on his face. Sui flinches at the mention of his family name. It’s not a bad name, just that he was bullied a little when he was younger because of it. The two characters that form his family name represents ‘standing’ and ‘flower’ respectively, so in some sense, it feels feminine. “Tachibana!” the barista repeats. “What a beautiful name!”

Sui feels a strange churning sensation his chest, his body tensing as he instinctively turned to look out of the window, wondering how to react. _Beautiful?_ No one ever said that to him before. All he ever heard were ‘girly’, ‘lame’ and ‘gay’. It doesn’t help that his personality is not very manly either. _Writing romance novels doesn’t help, huh._

“Tachibana-san?”

“Just call me Sui.” Sui turns away from the window, but does not look at the barista. He, instead, stares back at blank piece of paper. It is difficult to face him, Sui isn’t sure why. It feels like something would go terribly wrong if he does.

“Eh? Is it okay? To call you by your first name?” the barista asks with a lower, more concerned voice. It isn’t the first time he heard that remark. Sui doesn’t care about the differences in nuances between calling by the first name or his family name, especially since he has a bit of a negative reaction to his family name. He usually tells others to refer to him as Sui, and by this point, he is already used to being called as such.

“Yeah, it’s fine,” he nods. _Still, being called by your first time symbolizes intimacy, huh?_ He feels the aching in his chest again and makes a hard blink. He had had that thought several times before and dismissed it each time easily, so why does it affect him so now?

“Okay,” the barista says. “Sui.” He mutters an attempt. “Sui!” He repeats cheerily. The lively voice rings across the cafe. For a moment, it feels as if the atmosphere around cafe has brightened up. _Sui._ He had never heard it being called this way before. It’s strange. It’s like for the first time, his name feels...special? _Sui._ The barista’s voice echoes in his head.

“Yes, er...” Sui tries to respond, his eyes darting around. He notices that his phone is still displaying the barista’s profile. “Karu...sawa-san?” He tries to say his name “That’s a great name too.” He doesn’t really think so, but he feels that the need to say so in return for the earlier compliment.

“Ehh…” Sui looks up towards unexpected disappointed tone, afraid that he might have said something wrong. The barista gives a pout, folding his arms and rolling his eyes. Sui almost chuckles at the range of expressions. “It’s a bit of a mouthful, don’t you think?” Sui doesn’t think so; the name has four syllables just like his. "And it doesn’t seem fair that I get to call you by your first name.”

Sui shrugs. He looks at his phone again. “Souta,” he says, reading the other name on the profile.

The barista falls silent. Sui blinks at the strange face he’s making, what seems like a troubled expression. _Did I say something weird?_ Sui wonders as the barista looks away and laughs an unusually forced laugh.

“Ahaha! Just call me Karu instead!”

Sui frowns and takes a sip of his coffee. “Karu,” he repeats. He admits that it rolls off his tongue more easily than Souta, although he feels that he should refer a person by their given name. “Isn’t Sout-”

“Oi, Karu! Customer.” A voice interrupts from behind. Packing the stocks from behind the counter is Shinohara-san, the owner of the cafe. In front of the counter is someone he has never seen before, but from the look on his face, it seems that he is familiar with the shop.

“Okay!” Karu turned to attend to the customer, half skipping his way towards the counter. Sui gives a small smile, shaking his head and returns his attention to the blank paper.

“Morning, Nova-san!” he can hear Karu greet.

“Morning, Karu,” the customer greets back. “I’ll have the usual. How’s working here so far? Did Kouta bully you?”

“Shinohara-san doesn’t let me drink coffee,” Karu says with a tint of sadness to his voice. Sui almost chuckled at the comment. _What kind of barista isn’t allowed to drink coffee?_

“Hahaha! Kouta, that’s mean! You mean you forbade him from drinking the coffee you trained him to make?” Nova laughs. “That’s so stupid!”

“You know what happens when we let him drink,” Shinohara says. “You know it, you were there. He got so hyper that he scared all the customers away.”

“It was only a sip!” Karu complains, swiping a small metal jug, a couple of cups and a few unknown metal looking things off the counter before getting to work.

Sui watches silently. He cannot imagine how the upbeat Karu could be any more hyper than he is now. He kind of wants to see it. _The lively friend of the main character,_ he scribbles absentmindedly onto the paper. _It would be nice to have a friend like that, huh._

“A sip too many, apparently.” Shinohara replies. “Careful with all that twirling, I don’t want any more broken cups.”

Sui stretches his neck to peer. Karu looks very animated behind the counter, as if he is putting on a show. He thinks it looks pretty cool. _Strange that I didn’t notice before when I ordered. My mind was probably elsewhere_. He glances disappointedly at his half-empty cup of coffee. It feels rude to walk towards the counter and interfere with their conversation without a good reason. Maybe he can order some food instead.

Sui shakes his head. _What am I doing?_ _I’m trying too hard for nothing, there’s no reason for me to go._ He returns his attention to the paper and is surprised to find that it is no longer blank after his scribbles. _Oh right, I wrote something._ He stares at the words, his pen tapping on the table. _Lively friend of the main character._ His mind wanders to relive the earlier conversation he had with Karu. His smile, liveliness, chirpy voice, troubled face, pout... and generally good-looks. He wants to see them again.

Sui blinks, snapping himself back to reality. _What am I thinking!_ He heaves a breath, but the faint aching in his chest does not go away. _The words are distracting me,_ he thinks as he flips the page to another blank piece of paper. He stares at it, and starts scribbling some plot.

_The main character goes out with this lively friend of his. They watch a movie. A horror movie of course. He comforts her whenever she’s scared and after the movie, they talk all about it over dinner. As they returned home, the friend admitted that she is afraid of the dark after watching the movie and asks shyly if she can stay over the night at the main character’s house. The main character thought long and hard and says, “Souta…”_

Sui’s hands stopped. He rubs his face. _What the hell?_ He erases the name from the page. _That’s not even a girl’s name._ Sui frowns. He places the tip the pen at where he had been erasing and makes the correction.

 _Karu,_ he writes, and immediately cancels it away. Sui closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. _I think I’ll stop here for now,_ he thinks as he opens his eyes. He looks back at the counter. Shinohara-san is chuckling as he makes a phone call. Karu, while cleaning cups, is striking a conversation with Nova, who has started drinking his beverage. Sui feels a little left out. He wonders when Nova is going to leave so that he can continue his conversation with Karu.

Sui drinks his coffee. _It’s cold._ He grimaces as he feels the strong bitterness spread throughout his mouth. It’s like that when it goes cold, though the faint sweetness from the sugar helps.   _Bittersweet._ He can’t help but wonder if that’s what he’s feeling right now, or if it is just the taste in his mouth.

“Sui! Sui!”

Sui jolts from his seat. He must’ve spaced out. Karu stands before him, his eyes smile as bright as sunshine. He seems really excited about something. In his hands held two tickets. _Is this…?_

“Nova-san just gave me two tickets to a flower show nearby! He asked me to ask someone else out so I thought it would be fun if we go together!” Karu brandishes the two pieces of paper from his pockets.

Sui isn’t sure how to react. He has seen this scenario before. He had _written_ this scenario before. He has even thought through and written how to react in this scenario, so why is it so difficult to do so? _This is a date right?_ Sui isn’t sure. They are both guys, so it could easily just be two guys hanging out. _But to a flower show?_ He glances at the two tickets Karu is holding in his hands. _There is no way this is not a date._ He doesn’t _mind_ if it is, he just isn’t sure if it really is. He should ask. _No wait, but what if it isn’t? What if I’m overthinking it? That would be so weird!_

“When is the...event?” Sui asks, giving the straightest face he can muster. _Just play it cool. Act like I don’t know anything._

Karu places one of the tickets onto Sui’s table. “Next weekend! Ah!” He tilts his head in concern. “Do you like flowers?”

“I don’t hate them, I guess.” Sui thinks flowers are pretty, but that’s about it. And that they make a romantic gift. _Romantic._ The word echoes in his head. His mind starts playing scenes for him, scenes of him and Karu having a _romantic_ time together at the flower show till nighttime. He shakes his head. His imagination has been rather active today. _Must be the coffee._ “I should be fine for next week,” he forces himself to return to the topic.

“Yay!” Karu smiles excitedly. “I’ll meet you next week at... Er... How about here?”

Sui feels his chest tighten. “Okay,” he replies. _It’s not a date._ He retreats to his phone, keying in the date into his online calendar to distract himself. _Seven days_ . Sui counts the days between impatiently. _Six, not counting today._ He can’t help but feel excited. No one has ever asked him out before, and an outing with someone like Karu seems fun and - Sui gives a long hard blink - _fun._

Questions return to swamp Sui’s mind. He wonders if Karu’s interested in him, if Karu even swings _that_ way, and if Karu sees this as a date like he does - all questions that he cannot bring himself to ask. _No, I don’t need to._ Sui calms himself down. _It’s not a date,_ he reminds himself, taking a final swig of the remaining cold coffee. His heart drops a little as the bitterness spreads in his mouth again. _We just got to know each other._

“Okay, it’s a date then!” Karu declares happily.

Sui nearly spits out all his coffee.


End file.
